5.  The applicant was born in 1973 and lives in Kursk.
6.  In the period between 23 and 27 January 2005 the applicant, in a series of telephone conversations with S., agreed that he would supply her with cannabis which she would then sell. These telephone conversations were recorded by the Federal Security Service (“FSB”).
7.  On 28 January 2005 S. brought the cannabis to the applicant. She mixed it with cannabis she already had at home and packed it into three separate plastic bags, then wrapped them together in one parcel.
8.  On the same day the acting chief of the Kursk Regional Department of the FSB authorised an undercover operation in the form of a test purchase under sections 7 and 8 of the Operational-Search Activities Act of 12 August 1995 (no. 144-FZ). On the following day an undercover FSB agent, B., acting as a buyer, met the applicant and purchased 4,408 g of cannabis from her. Banknotes marked with a special substance were used for the purchase. The FSB also made a video and audio recording of the test purchase. After the transaction the applicant was arrested and the marked money was found on her. Her home was searched afterwards, and there she handed in another bag of cannabis weighing 28.6 g.
9.  On 24 November 2005 the Leninskiy District Court of Kursk examined the case. The applicant pleaded guilty of having assisted B. in the acquisition of cannabis, but claimed that she had been induced by B. to commit the offence and that she would not have committed it without his intervention.
10.  The applicant submitted at the trial that she had a close relationship with S. On one occasion in September 2004 he had left a bag containing dry herb at her home. She had then shown the substance to a neighbour who she knew was a drug addict and he had recognised it as cannabis. A few days later she had been approached by a certain Vladimir, previously unknown to her, who had said that he knew that she had “stuff” and that he could arrange a large-scale deal (“200 cups”) with a customer he knew. She had mentioned this offer to S., who had told her that he could pick up the requisite amount and asked her to find out the price. According to the applicant, at some stage Vladimir had started calling her, harassing her into selling cannabis and making threats should she refuse to do so. She had called S. several times before 28 January 2005, when he had finally brought the cannabis to her. On 29 January 2005 she had received a phone call from the “customer” (the undercover agent B.) and they had arranged for the sale.
11.  S. testified at the trial that the applicant had called him in October or November 2004 and suggested a deal whereby he would supply her with a “large consignment” of cannabis which she would then sell. In November 2004 he had picked up some wild marijuana plants and dried them in his attic. On 23 or 24 January 2005 the applicant had called him, asking whether he had prepared the consignment, and said that she had customers waiting. They had decided to sell the cannabis at 300 roubles per cup; according to S., the price was suggested by the applicant. S. also testified that the applicant had told him that she had received threats pressuring her into selling the cannabis.
12.  Other evidence examined by the court included:
–  witness testimonies by B., the undercover agent, and K., the FSB agent who took part in the test purchase, on the events of 29 January 2005: the details of the test purchase, the applicant’s arrest and the ensuing investigative measures;
–  witness testimonies by Kr. and Kh., the attesting witnesses, concerning the applicant’s arrest on 29 January 2005 and the inspection of the marking agent found on her hands and banknotes;
–  the FSB reports relating to the test purchase, the search and the objects seized;
–  forensic evidence and reports on the inspection of the seized substance; these confirmed that the bag contained 4,408 g of cannabis, an amount corresponding to 2,204 average doses of cannabis; the substance seized at the applicant’s home was 28.8 g of cannabis;
–  the transcripts and the related reports on the telephone conversations between the applicant and S. in which they had discussed the details of the planned sale;
–  witness testimonies by the applicant’s mother that the applicant had received threats pressuring her into selling drugs and that she had continued to receive calls and threats after her arrest; and
–  witness testimonies by the police officers who had received a complaint from the applicant’s mother concerning the harassment by telephone.
13.  On the basis of the above evidence, the court found the applicant guilty of having sold cannabis to B. on 29 January 2005. As regards the alleged incitement, the court considered that S.’s testimonies concerning the threats received by the applicant were an attempt to help her and decided that there was insufficient evidence of any threats or pressure on the applicant to sell drugs. The court convicted the applicant on a conspiracy charge involving plans to sell a particularly large consignment of narcotic drugs under Article 228.1 § 3 (статья 228.1 ч 3 «г») of the Criminal Code and sentenced her to four years’ imprisonment. The court relied on the applicant’s partial confession, oral testimonies by the FSB officers who had conducted the test purchase and by attesting witnesses, forensic evidence and reports on the inspection of the seized substance. Her accomplice S. was also convicted of the same offence.
14.  The applicant appealed, relying, inter alia, on the decisive role of the incitement in her committing the crime and on her inability to access the evidence from the investigation. She alleged, in particular, that there existed recordings of her telephone conversations with the FSB agents prior to the test purchase and asked for T., the FSB agent supposedly involved in the telephone tapping, to be called as a witness. She also complained that the court had not examined the video and audio recording of the test purchase.
15.  On 24 January 2006 the Kursk Regional Court dismissed the applicant’s appeal. The court rejected the applicant’s argument concerning the incitement by State agents on the grounds that her participation in the drug sale on 29 January 2005 had been established on the basis of multiple items of evidence and was not denied by her. The appeal court upheld the first­instance judgment, holding, in particular:
“As regards the arguments [contained in the applicant’s appeal] concerning the unfounded dismissal of [her] request to obtain the audio recordings of the telephone conversations between [her] and the FSB agents, and to cross-examine the FSB agent [T.] on that point, the case file contains no proof that any such recordings have been made under a procedure established by law.
As regards the arguments [contained in the applicant’s appeal] concerning the unfounded dismissal of [her] request to obtain the video and audio recordings of the test purchase of the drugs by the FSB agents, it is not necessary to examine them since [the applicant] accepted in her pleadings that she had sold the drugs during such a test purchase, and her account of the circumstances is corroborated by other evidence and facts established by the court.
In particular, it follows from the transcripts of the [applicant’s] telephone conversations with [S.] that during these conversations they discussed occasions of previous sales of narcotic drugs, the remaining unsold stock of narcotic drugs, the emergence of new customers and the prospects of carrying out another sale together ... S. was conveying information on prices for narcotic drugs”.